Psychiatry News and Research

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Psychiatry is the treatment, study and prevention of mental disorders.

Researchers induce sleep-like brain activity to reverse memory loss

By inducing specific patterns of activity in small portions of the brain in awake mice, researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have triggered a recalibration of neural connections that normally only occurs during sleep.

8 Jun 2026

Improved non-invasive brain stimulation targets deep-seated neurological disorders

Brain stimulation techniques can correct abnormal activity in the neural circuits involved in conditions such as Parkinson's disease and depression. However, current transcranial stimulation methods delivered through the scalp reach only the brain's surface, limiting their effectiveness.

8 Jun 2026

Researchers identify hidden self-harm histories using machine learning

Important mental health history is often present in medical records but hard to find, especially when it is missing from the diagnosis codes that clinicians, researchers and health systems use to search and count conditions.

5 Jun 2026

Integrated care reduces hospital visits for adults with disabilities

University of Cincinnati and Ohio State University researchers have found that adults with developmental disabilities who have integrated care were less likely to go to the emergency room or be hospitalized than others who were not.

5 Jun 2026

Grant fuels research into SYNGAP1-linked behavioral abnormalities

CURE SYNGAP1 501(c)(3) is pleased to announce a $130,000 grant to Dr. Helen Willsey and Dr. David Kastner at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

5 Jun 2026

Scientists merge massive databases to map early warning signs of depression

The Wellcome Trust is funding the FUTURE-D research consortium with nearly €6 million. The consortium is coordinated by Universitätsmedizin Frankfurt.

4 Jun 2026

Constipation may be tied to more than discomfort

Constipation was associated with approximately twofold higher odds of depression in a meta-analysis of 18 observational studies involving 730,263 participants. The findings support integrated gastrointestinal and mental health assessment, especially for adolescents and young adults, while emphasizing that causality cannot yet be established.

3 Jun 2026

Study discovers memory switchboard that protects past knowledge

The brain may reuse some cells to store many different memories without mixing them up with or erasing older memories, a new study in mice suggests.

3 Jun 2026

Ketogenic diet shows promise in treating anorexia nervosa

A pilot study published today in Communications Medicine demonstrates the potential of a new approach to treating anorexia nervosa - a disorder for which effective treatments have been significantly limited.

3 Jun 2026

Scientists introduce a precise framework to study screen-saturated childhoods

Children are growing up inside screens. A new peer-reviewed Thought Leaders Invited Review in Brain Health argues that neuroscience has been missing the word for what those screens are touching.

3 Jun 2026

Falling fentanyl deaths drive historic drop in American drug overdoses

Researchers from the University of California San Diego have found that U.S. overdose death rates declined dramatically between 2023 and 2024, marking the first recorded drop in all four waves of the nation's overdose crisis.

2 Jun 2026

Cannabis and tobacco co-use lowers cognitive performance in at-risk youth

New research shows that among people at clinical high risk for psychosis, cannabis and tobacco co-use was associated with lower cognitive performance compared to healthy controls.

2 Jun 2026

Stricter legislation does not decrease youth psychiatric care coercion

Coercive measures are used recurrently in inpatient child and adolescent psychiatric care but vary greatly between services and countries, according to a new doctoral thesis from Karolinska Institutet.

2 Jun 2026

Deep brain stimulation rewires brain circuits linked to depression

Researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have uncovered the first direct evidence that deep brain stimulation (DBS) can remodel white matter pathways in the brain and alter communication across large-scale neural networks, revealing a previously unrecognized mechanism that may explain how the therapy helps patients recover from severe depression.

1 Jun 2026

People with high autistic traits face worsening anxiety in older age

A major UK study has found that while most middle-aged and older adults experience low levels of anxiety, a small group of people with higher autistic traits are much more likely to report that their anxiety worsens as they age.

1 Jun 2026

Grant supports evaluation of interventions for intimate partner violence

Casey Taft, PhD, professor of psychiatry at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, has been awarded a $298,139 grant from Arnold Ventures to fund his 4-year project, "Evaluating Interventions for Intimate Partner Violence Use in Washington State."

29 May 2026

Urine-based autism screening using gut microbial metabolites

Elevated gut microbe metabolites may distinguish children with autism, paving the way for a non-invasive urine test and a new ASD subtype linked to microbiome.

29 May 2026

Advanced tau imaging improves early Alzheimer’s disease detection accuracy

A new brain imaging test can detect a key hallmark of Alzheimer's disease before symptoms appear and earlier than the method currently used in clinical practice in the United States and Europe, report University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers today in The Lancet.

28 May 2026

Blood biomarkers may detect Alzheimer’s risk before symptoms appear

For the first time, researchers found blood biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease that correlated with minor cognitive differences in midlife adults who did not have dementia.

28 May 2026

Mental health diagnostic interviews are less consistent than thought

Diagnostic interviews are widely used by mental health professionals to identify conditions such as anxiety, bipolar disorder and depression in adults, but new research led by McMaster University shows that the long considered "gold standard" may not be as consistent as previously thought.

28 May 2026